private What Lurks in the Woods

[Veigar the Dark Lord 36]

(From this point on, you are allowed to completely take control of my character until i reappear. By the way, long delay on the post from today's midday was due to my PC resetting after a 1100 words post, so i felt lazy to post it again.)

 

Vayne thought the Princess meant her when she refered to a servant of Tharazul, but when she refered to the pegasus, she frowned. Finally, the pegasus revealed the Princess' true identity, and Vayne grinned as the pathetic shape-shifter flew away. "Yes...flee like the scumbag and failed attempt of a pony you are!" Vayne shouted angrily at Chrysalis and shot her a bolt of her massive crossbow, hoping it hit the target. Then, she turned to Quick Shot, ignoring everyone around and frowned. "Brother...i know belong to Tharazul's order. If you want my  attention, come with me and join Tharazul's order along with me. Come on, ok? You'll feel better joining the dark side," she said grinning and looked at him through her evil red shades, waiting for his answer. He didn't have anything to lose, plus, he'd gain his sister once again.

[Proton 564]

(I'm deeply sorry I haven't posted on this since I got accepted yet. But well, here I go)

 

Proton was rapidly flying home. Something terrible had happened. He arrived and immediatly opened the door, fearing the worst.

He entered the humble house he recognized as his home and quickly started searching something. Something important.

However, he couldn't find the artifact anywhere near. "Damn," he thought. "Just when I needed her the most, she isn't home. Where did she put it?!" He kept searching for around 15 minutes but eventually gave up and left the house.

 

But just when he left, he heard a noise that sounded terrifyingly similar to a roar. And it was coming from the Everfree forest. "What was that?" He thought immediatly. But he didn't have time to investigate things like that. "Eh, I'll find out later. First, I need to search for Clarity".

 

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

Another roar. But this one was way stronger than the first one. So strong it moved the ground under Ponyville. "Ugh...," Proton moaned as he fell to his knees and his head fell right into a rock, getting him unconscious.

 

(First, sorry for the short post. Second, the "she" and "Clarity" in this post refers to another of my OCs, who lives with Proton)

[Dark Horn 430]

((No problem. Three out of seven characters left for a while, and some of the others are trying to formulate an 800 character post. Nevertheless, when you heard a roar, well, what exactly were you envisioning happening?))

 

The crossbow bolt strikes Chrysalis' fetlock (ankle), and she lets out a yelp of pain, charging up her horn and firing a bolt of greenish-black energy at Quick Shot and Vayne, which misses by a long way off, searing a semi-large crater in the ground. Remembering her goal, she fires another bolt at one of the walls of the Canterlot palace, revealing the two cocooned doctors, as well as a comatose and cocooned Twilight Sparkle.

 

The Changeling Queen levitates Twilight's chrysalis and quickly but carefully fluttering higher. A few Royal Guards open fire half-heartedly, fearful of hitting Twilight, and still troubled by the question of what happened to Celestia. Most miss, but one shot strikes Chrysalis' horn, ricocheting off. She growls, almost dropping Twilight, facing the difficulty of flying while using magic. As angry as she is, the queen is intelligent enough not to attack the Royal Guard, attempting to balance flight and levitation at the same time.

 

Three of the guard fly up to engage her, only to be batted away with the cocoon.

 

Snow looks up at Chrysalis hungrily. "I wonder if she could help me with regaining my horn. Shapeshifting requires reconstituting the entire body, how hard could healing one organ be, even a magical one?"

 

The entirety of the Royal Guard, confused, is unsure of itself. Someone yells to detain everyone in the courtyard, and a few fly down to do just that.

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

((Moar changelings? Moar? Sheesh. Ah, well. Let's see how long it takes for me to either recover Twilight, kill Chryssi, or both?))

 

Quick Shot growled before hollering, "SPY!" He shot at Chrysalis, aiming for a headshot, and growled. "I might consider it, sister, but, cultist of Tharizul or not, that insect will die. Right now." He ran up to the shops and, bouncing on the curtains, leaped up and landed onto one of the lower rooftops, about even with Chrysalis. He shot a total of three times, aiming more for breaking her concentration than dealing any actual damage. He adjusted his aim, and made absolutely sure that he didn't shoot the cocoon. He stood ready to jump and catch the cocoon, should Chrysalis drop it. He growled and jumped across to the next rooftop, slightly higher. He almost stumbled and fell into the alley below, but he managed to keep up, popping off a shot every now and again, waiting until Chrysalis was exactly even with the rooftops he was running on now.

 

((There you go, @@Dark Horn. I'm tired now. Snore...  ))

[Dark Horn 430]

((Curious, what do you mean, more? There's only one. Anyhow, g' night then! ))

 

Chrysalis thinks rapidly. Having Twilight would be a nice bargaining chip with both Tharazul and Equestria, and might be useful in other ways in the future. Also, she was the Element of Magic, and the most powerful of the bunch too. Without her, the Elements of Harmony couldn't be used against her and - ow! That crossbow bolt hurt! She's invaluable, but then again, so am I, and those guard members are trying to take both of us. If only I had more Changelings with me... stupid guard! That hurts! Maybe I can get away with the magic pony, but first I need to eradicate that annoying one...

 

Chrysalis sighs, setting down Twilight on another rooftop. "You're upsetting me, pony. Your ridiculous, primitive weapons can't even begin to harm me." She lands on the roof Quick Shot is on with a thud, shaking it, concentrating her magic into her horn as she slowly advances towards Quick. "Rest at ease, guard... for you have just made your last mistake." she says, unleashing a beam of magical energy, aiming squarely at Quick.

[Veigar the Dark Lord 36]

(Oh gosh...thou wonderful Thunder Knight....thou have resurfaced!)

 

Vayne heard his words but made no sound as he denied to join forces with her and Tharazul. She would just give him a hand before eliminating Tharazul's enemis: The Changelings. She had to erradicate them as they were a force to be reckoned with. They had the Element of Magic, the most important one and the one Vayne was set off to look after. When she saw a beam of deadly magical energy, Vayne frowned angrily and took out her massive crossbow, shooting one of her humongous bolts against the sphere of energy; making it explode. Vayne tumbled forward and landed with one of her hooves in the air and the other on the ground. "Listen, Chrysalis. I despise you, your race, and your disgusting habits to get in mine and my master's plans. I recommend you one thing: leave Twilight Sparkle exactly where she is, or else, i'll pierce your skull," she said calmly, putting the large crossbow away and pointing at Chrysalis with the smaller one, the tip of the bolt was wet in a  special metallic liquid that would set off faster and pierce better. Chrysalis' ugly mug was reflected on the liquid.

[Dark Horn 430]

Chrysalis is taken aback for a moment, but then quickly recovers. "How can you combat a creature of chaos, fools!" She leaps down from the ceiling, landing on the ground in the midst of the amassing crowd. There's a flash of green light, and everypony backs away, but there's no one where the Changeling Queen landed. One moment, a unicorn winks from a rooftop before magically flinging a pile of bricks towards Quick Shot and Vayne. The next, an earth pony grins from behind a building, holding a crossbow and knocking off a shot at a Royal Guard. Then it vanishes into the crowd too.

 

Snow Shine watches curiously, not sure who she's rooting for. "Where did she go?" A smile touches her lips as her careful, discerning eye lands on a nervous-looking pegaus a few yards away, slowly backing away from the scene. Aha! I think that's her, but it could also be him... she thinks, glancing at a nearby unicorn, who's inching dangerously close towards Twilight's cocoon. Snow feels that it's one of the two, though she can't tell which. Hoping she's correct, she vigorously nods Vayne and Quick Shot towards the unicorn, hoping that it's just an innocent bystander. I have to get this right... I need Chrysalis...

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

He dodged the pile of bricks and, with another quick shot from his bow, he split the arrow in two. It shattered into two, causing the Guard to leap back in surprise as he was hit by a shower of splinters.

 

As all of this is happening, he silently ponders the question. Duty or family? He has several mental struggles concerning this. Eventually, he sighed, and smiled. He decided that family would win. He put duty first too many times in the past decade. Time to return the favor to the one who had to put up with it.

 

His eyes widened as he saw the unicorn, as well as the pegasus. He scowled, and said to Vayne, "I have my eye on two targets acting suspicious- The unicorn edging towards the cocoon, and the pegasus edging away. If you take one, I will take the other. Try not to kill them, at least until they reveal themselves into their true form. And, when all of this is over, please linger for me at the Canterlot Gate."

 

He stood at the ready, waiting for both her answer and her choice.

 

((Took me long enough. And yesterday's D&D thing was a bust. Not my fault, though. Half my players didn't show up, and the other half seemed hell-bent on destroying the story. I returned the favor by killing all the characters and ending the session early, saying that we could try again next week. Meh.))

[Dark Horn 430]

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((Sorry to hear that. I just ran a dungeon crawl where the players decided to walk in a big circle around the dungeon and climb with ropes into the final battle, murdered the dragon, and then went through the rest of the dungeon. I had to make a bunch of adjustments because it was a very linear dungeon with lots of one-way doors. Then again, it is their story too, no matter how anti-climatic they want to make it. Oh, well. With the adjustments of the doors, I also added some fun traps and a random mini black hole. ))

 

Snow shuffles slowly towards the pegasus, as if backing away from the combat. She winks at the pegasus, who blinks and shakes her head. Did I choose the wrong one? Shine grunts in frustration, then sees a smile growing on the pegasus' lips. "Yes... I have you now, Chrysalis." she whispers under her breath, trotting much faster towards the pony. The pegasus doesn't move any further, the smile rapidly fading away. Suddenly Snow sees a spot of black against the pegasus' skin, and she gasps.

 

Her disguise must be fading! Snow rushes the pony, about to say something. Then she sees the ebony purse hanging from the pegasus' side. "Vengeful Celestia, why me..." she mutters to herself as the pegasus yells and flies away. If that was Chrysalis, then I've got no chance of getting her now... though one of the pegasi Royal Guards might. Oh, well. That unicorn can't fly - she'd have to shapeshift to fly away. My only hope now is that the unicorn is Chrysalis. I just hope I can get to her before the Royal Guards do... I need her...

 

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, three stunned ponies, namely those known as Proton, Sky Chaser, and Silent Dawn stand around in the village.

[Dark Horn 430]

A sheriff whistles merrily to a tune somewhat akin to Life in Equestria, patrolling on the outskirts of Ponyville, just next to the Everfree. It is then that he notices a menagerie of chirping, humming, and screeching nothing like his own jolly music. A large flock of birds of all shapes and sizes flees upwards, small rodents rushing out of the forest on the ground, from mice to bunnies to ferrets. Even insects are in the crowd.

 

Then, to the shock and horror of the sheriff, out of the Everfree darts a timber wolf, a terrified expression plastered on its wooden face. It trembles once, twice, then a large, green, lizard-like foot crushes it. The ground underneath it gives way, earth and stone alike groaning under its weight. A tremor shakes the rock beneath its clawed feet, drawing the attention of ponies who are far away from it, say, even as far as the library. The dragon sniffs the air indignantly, smelling fear and meat, before fixing its callous, reptilian eyes on the sheriff and opening its gaping maw into a grin of massive, ancient teeth yellowed with age.

 

The shocked guard pony had time for one scream.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Dark Horn

[Veigar the Dark Lord 36]

Vayne looked at the bricks and tumbled to the side, turning invisible for a split of second and avoiding the bricks in case they fell on top of her. She then looked at Quick Shot, who gave her a quite exciting choice. However, even the best must be bitter, as she wasn't allowed to kill the target. "I'll take the right...the edging one. But i don't promise i won't kill him, brother," she said and in a dark flash, she appeared in front of the guard, killing him as she pierced his skull with an arrow. "Oops...i'm sorry, but i just can't help killing," she told her brother, the essence of the dead stallion entering her body as she fled from action, remembering the words he just said. "At the Canterlot Gates." Being as quick as a thunderbolt, Vayne ran across the forest, at a lightning pace as she killed every creature that stood in her way. Finally, she arrived the Canterlot Gates, but as a precaution, she hid in a bush, turning invisible.

 

(Sorry for my inactivity, i have a life, and no fixed computer, so my answers are quite slow.)

[Princess Periwinkle 3,774]

"Wha-?" Sky Chaser tried to register the sound he had just heard. It sounded like... but it couldn't be... A...

 

"DRAGON!" He heard a pony scream from outside. Sky quickly decided to rush out and see what was going on and if he could help. The great green beast was trundling out of the forest, looking slightly lost but mostly furious. Questions upon questions began pouring into Sky's mind, but unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anypony sticking around.

 

Never mind, no time to ask anyway. Sky was thinking quickly. There was next to no time before the dragon would lumber its way into Ponyville and then do... Who knows what... Sky shuddered.

 

Taking initiative, Sky Chaser left the ground and flew straight toward the dragon. Almost there, he realized that he had no idea what he was going to do. He had never been the best planner...

 

I'll just wing it... Heh, "wing"... Sky mentally kicked himself for his horrendous pun and swooped left before the slower-moving dragon could react. Get his attention... Get his attention...

 

It seemed to be working. The dragon was following Sky Chaser with his eyes... Now his head... Now he was moving toward Sky. Now all that needed to be done was to lead the thing back into the forest.

 

Sky Chaser let his mind wander to his questions about where the dragon came from, and that was all that was needed to get him off of is guard enough for the dragon to strike. Sky heard it first. It was lucky that he did, as it gave him enough warning to try and dodge. The flames caught the right side of his body, and with a scream Sky went down.

 

Skidding and bouncing to a stop, Sky rolled over on his damaged and ablaze wing in an attempt to smother it. Through the haze of pain he saw the dragon look back down at him

 

Oh help... Oh someone please help...

[Dark Horn 430]

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((Alright, Vayne. Let me get this straight. What Vayne did is she dodged some bricks, killed a random Royal Guard, turned invisible, and then went to hide in some bushes by the Canterlot Gates, correct? That's okay with me, if you're going for a truly evil character who chaotically murders others, and it's going to make some interesting contrast with Quick Shot, who has at least done his best not to hurt any innocents and protected Blueblood, as well as avoided harming Twilight. Good job, everyone!))

 

Snow's eyes dilate, watching Vayne run by, stepping out of her way. Some ponies are a bit crazy... no, some ponies are downright insane! Snow gallops towards the unicorn as quickly as she could, broken horn pointed towards her. The unicorn she's charging looks at her with an amused smile and her horn glows with a dim light, a bench flying in Snow's way. Shine leaps over it, her hooves just grazing the top of it.

 

Snow grabs the unicorn's fetlock (ankle) even as it starts to shift into the recognizable form of Chrysalis. The Queen takes hold of Twilight's cocoon with her horn and begins to fly away, but Snow Shine refuses to let go. Chrysalis kicks once, twice, then stops, glaring down at her passenger. "Let me on your back, or I drag you down... back down to those two nasty-looking ponies with crossbows." Chrysalis grudgingly and unceremoniously levitates Snow onto her back. Shine smiles, holding on tight to the Queen's coat and mane, expecting Chrysalis to attempt to buck her off - but she's far too tired for that.

 

Both Snow, Chrysalis, and Twilight hover into the air and fly off south, to the realm of Changelings. Pursuit is an option, but they are moving far too quickly, despite Chrysalis' exhaustion, for chase on the ground.

 

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, the green dragon lets out a siren-like cry to the heavens, having felled its second foe. Claws sprout from its fingertips, each one the size of the baby dragon Spike, perhaps bigger. It bends its head down to began devouring its prey, when a rainbow suddenly streaks past it, knocking back its scaly, webbed hand and denying it Sky Chaser as a snack. Rainbow Dash grins, flying in circles around the dragon. The rest of the Mane 6 (excluding Twilight Sparkle) stand nearby in formation.

 

The five Elements are just starting to look confident when the dragon lashes out with its spiked tail, scattering them and coming dangerously close to decapitating Rainbow Dash.

 

((You can control the Mane 6, Sky Chaser, however, with this dragon being tougher than most, as well as older, Fluttershy's Stare will likely only have limited effects on it... have fun with 'em!))

Edited July 22, 2013 by Dark Horn